Sometimes, books reach out and grab you in way that makes you feel as if they are a part of you. Even more rarely, characters do the same, and by the end of the book you feel that if you met that person, your souls would practically be in tune with each other.
I can remember the first time this really happened to me--it was Emily, of the 'Emily of New Moon" series by L.M. Montgomery (of "Anne of Green Gables" fame). Although I love the Anne books, Emily seemed like such a kindred spirit (to borrow an Anne phrase) that I felt like somehow L.M. Montgomery had read my mind and written a book just for me.
It's been a while since I've read a book that has had this impact on me (other characters I feel this connection to include Jane Eyre), but having just finished "On Agate Hill" by Lee Smith, I can add Molly Petree Jarvis to the group.
I picked up 'On Agate Hill" because Lee Smith lives in Hillsborough, 10 miles from where I went to college, and I was admittedly feeling homesick, but also because I had read her most recent book of short stories last summer and enjoyed it.
Molly Petree is such a fiery, distinct, independent character, that I truly wish I could know her. I've been really down lately, between being homesick, struggling at my job (which is still part-time, so I've taken on another job at a daycare, which is causing me to question my skills as a potential future parent), and just general growing pains (I'm an adult? When the heck did this happen?), so connecting with such a fierce spirit as Molly Petree was just what I needed.
I know that to some people this may sound strange--it's just fiction, right?--but I've always found solace in fictional characters, settings, and situations. For those of you like me, I heartily recommend "On Agate Hill".
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Comfort Literature, Mystery Edition
A while ago, I wrote a post on my favorite books to read when I'm just in need of some comfort. Most of those ended up being "classics", so I thought I would write another post on my absolute favorite genre--mysteries.
Agatha Christie
I think I really got hooked on mysteries thanks to Agatha Christie. I started reading them after watching the Hercule Poirot tv series on PBS when I was in middle school, and I just fell in love with her writing style and characters. In addition to the Poirot series, some of her stand-alone novels are wonderful, The Pale Horse and They Came to Baghdad being two of my favorites. A few years back, I read a biography of Agatha Christie, and realized she is just as fascinating as her characters. From a mysterious disappearance to a late-in-life remarriage to a much younger archeologist, she lives up to her fame as a mystery writer. Even though I started reading these books as a teenager, I still love them just as much today.
Elizabeth Peters
Elizabeth Peters is another of my favorite mystery authors--Amelia Peabody and Emerson are fantastic, hilarious characters, and as the books progress, Ramses and Nefret also take a central role. I love these books for the excellent marital relationship Amelia and Emerson share almost more than for the mystery plotlines, which are always chock full of ancient Egyptian lore and late Victorian/Edwardian mayhem. Good Gad!
Alexander McCall Smith
I love Alexander McCall Smith's novels because they take seemingly mundane, everyday mysteries and turn them into wonderful, comforting stories full of characters that you spend the whole book wishing you could meet. I've read all the Mma Ramotswe novels,set in Botswana, and have recently started the Isabel Dalhousie ones,set in Edinburgh, and I love them all. McCall Smith's plotlines don't feature daring escapades like Elizabeth Peter's do--just ordinary people doing what they can to help others and solve mysteries that trouble them. I always finish one of his books feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.
Anne Perry
I admit I have mixed feelings about Anne Perry's personal life ever since I saw the movie Heavenly Creatures, based on her life (she and a friend conspired to kill the friend's mother as teenagers in New Zealand), but her books hooked me for their settings (mid to late Victorian England, and WWI England/Europe), their period details, the endearing characters, and the well-thought-out plotlines. I've read all the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt novels as well as the WWI series, and hope to start the William Monk series once I find the first one at the library. (To give you an idea of how long I've been reading her books and how much I love them, this comes to a total of about 30 books so far). I also find a message of redemption and hope in her novels that, I like to think, is coming from a personal sense of true sorrow about her past actions. But that might just be me reading into things.
Robin Paige
Robin Paige is the pseudonym for husband and wife team Bill and Susan Albert--their writing style is unique as a result. Their books focus on husband and wife team (eventually...it takes several books for them to meet and fall in love) Charles and Kate Sheridan, and it alternates between their points of view. Also set in late Victorian/Edwardian England, the Alberts make at least one famous historical character pop up per book--Arthur Conan Doyle, Rolls and Royce, Marconi, and Oscar Wilde, just for a sample--and their historical research (and recommendation for non-fiction books to read at the end of each book) is flawless. I've read all of their books in this series several times, and always enjoy them.
Jasper Fforde
I debated including Fforde in the mystery category, because his writing is so unique, but I think it ultimately fits here. Fforde writes books that take place in classics, fairy tales, children's stories...you name a book you like, he includes its characters and setting into his story. The Thursday Next series (starting with The Eyre Affair) is my favorite..set in an alternate-universe 1980s England, Thursday Next is a literary detective who moonlights as a detective in the "bookverse", or world of fiction (those fictional characters get up to all kinds of shenanigans in their free time!). I've also started reading his Nursery Crimes series, which I also enjoy. Ffordes books have a whimsical nature you don't often find outside of children's literature, a wonderful break from "grown-up" novels.
That's all for now--stay tuned for the chick lit/romance edition....
Agatha Christie
I think I really got hooked on mysteries thanks to Agatha Christie. I started reading them after watching the Hercule Poirot tv series on PBS when I was in middle school, and I just fell in love with her writing style and characters. In addition to the Poirot series, some of her stand-alone novels are wonderful, The Pale Horse and They Came to Baghdad being two of my favorites. A few years back, I read a biography of Agatha Christie, and realized she is just as fascinating as her characters. From a mysterious disappearance to a late-in-life remarriage to a much younger archeologist, she lives up to her fame as a mystery writer. Even though I started reading these books as a teenager, I still love them just as much today.
Elizabeth Peters
Elizabeth Peters is another of my favorite mystery authors--Amelia Peabody and Emerson are fantastic, hilarious characters, and as the books progress, Ramses and Nefret also take a central role. I love these books for the excellent marital relationship Amelia and Emerson share almost more than for the mystery plotlines, which are always chock full of ancient Egyptian lore and late Victorian/Edwardian mayhem. Good Gad!
Alexander McCall Smith
I love Alexander McCall Smith's novels because they take seemingly mundane, everyday mysteries and turn them into wonderful, comforting stories full of characters that you spend the whole book wishing you could meet. I've read all the Mma Ramotswe novels,set in Botswana, and have recently started the Isabel Dalhousie ones,set in Edinburgh, and I love them all. McCall Smith's plotlines don't feature daring escapades like Elizabeth Peter's do--just ordinary people doing what they can to help others and solve mysteries that trouble them. I always finish one of his books feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.
Anne Perry
I admit I have mixed feelings about Anne Perry's personal life ever since I saw the movie Heavenly Creatures, based on her life (she and a friend conspired to kill the friend's mother as teenagers in New Zealand), but her books hooked me for their settings (mid to late Victorian England, and WWI England/Europe), their period details, the endearing characters, and the well-thought-out plotlines. I've read all the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt novels as well as the WWI series, and hope to start the William Monk series once I find the first one at the library. (To give you an idea of how long I've been reading her books and how much I love them, this comes to a total of about 30 books so far). I also find a message of redemption and hope in her novels that, I like to think, is coming from a personal sense of true sorrow about her past actions. But that might just be me reading into things.
Robin Paige
Robin Paige is the pseudonym for husband and wife team Bill and Susan Albert--their writing style is unique as a result. Their books focus on husband and wife team (eventually...it takes several books for them to meet and fall in love) Charles and Kate Sheridan, and it alternates between their points of view. Also set in late Victorian/Edwardian England, the Alberts make at least one famous historical character pop up per book--Arthur Conan Doyle, Rolls and Royce, Marconi, and Oscar Wilde, just for a sample--and their historical research (and recommendation for non-fiction books to read at the end of each book) is flawless. I've read all of their books in this series several times, and always enjoy them.
Jasper Fforde
I debated including Fforde in the mystery category, because his writing is so unique, but I think it ultimately fits here. Fforde writes books that take place in classics, fairy tales, children's stories...you name a book you like, he includes its characters and setting into his story. The Thursday Next series (starting with The Eyre Affair) is my favorite..set in an alternate-universe 1980s England, Thursday Next is a literary detective who moonlights as a detective in the "bookverse", or world of fiction (those fictional characters get up to all kinds of shenanigans in their free time!). I've also started reading his Nursery Crimes series, which I also enjoy. Ffordes books have a whimsical nature you don't often find outside of children's literature, a wonderful break from "grown-up" novels.
That's all for now--stay tuned for the chick lit/romance edition....
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